Confronting the Existential Scourge of Ritual Killings

 IN THE ARENA

Emboldened by the emerging strong non-state actors and weak state control, underreported cases of ritual killings in the country are rising, adding to the list of existential crises bedeviling the nation, writes Louis Achi

Amidst prevailing uncertainty, poverty, joblessness, illiteracy and some level of fetishism in the nation, an increasing number of Nigerians have opted for extreme means of survival, notwithstanding how bizarre.

Worse, there is no empirical correlation between the deadly human rituals and the instant wealth usually promised through magical potions by predatory herbalists and voodoo practitioners. But clearly, as in other proven bloody impunities in the country which are not being harshly punished, this audacious carnage will persist.

According to a report in the American ‘Foreign Affairs’ magazine, the rising incidence of ritual killings in Nigeria, “reflects a weakening state control and Nigerians’ desperate attempts to achieve economic stability,” through diabolical means.

One of the most celebrated cases of ritual killings was that of the Port Harcourt serial killer, Gracious David-West who reportedly lured seven young ladies with high-risk lifestyle across Lagos, Imo and Rivers State to hotels and murdered them, allegedly for rituals.

In another terrible case, Miss Iniobong Umoren, a young job-seeking graduate who was raped and murdered in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, last year, was allegedly used for ritual purposes. Umoren, a graduate of Philosophy, University of Uyo, was killed on April 2021.

 It is heartening that an Akwa Ibom State High Court last week sentenced Uduak Akpan, Umoren’s killer, to death by hanging for murder.

There have been hundreds of reported and unreported cases of ritual murders in Nigeria. To effectively confront and cage these killers and restore civilised peace to the country, there is crucial need for the state to quit dithering and subscribe to a higher value on life and human dignity.

The federal government and sub-nationals must also firm up to restore law and order to the polity. The justice system and relevant laws need to be jazzed up. 

A studied, and holistic response is urgent notwithstanding the other bracing challenges from the economic realm to terrorism and banditry. Several cogent posers necessarily arise here: How can sentient beings possibly believe that money sprouts from human parts? What is unfolding is indisputably a growing sense of quirky survivalist desperation to acquire wealth without work.

How should the Nigerian state react to a problem posed by ignorance and greed? How can the authorities put an end to these grim acts of violence against fellow beings and the society at large?

The legendary Nigerian filmmaker Tunde Kelani disagreed when Nollywood was blamed for the increasing ritual killings among Nigerian youths. According to him, “we have to blame ourselves. The ritual killings are written in the newspapers and broadcast on television. But nobody blames it on the newspaper, but Nollywood is much easier to pick up on.”

He provides more insight into the reasons behind the profane scourge: “So we take part of the blame, but nobody talks about the audience because essentially, Nollywood is like a consummate of small businesses controlled by distributors and marketers.

“They respond to the audience’s demands; so, why does the audience keep buying films of that type? If the audience stops buying them and says, no, listen, we don’t want any of these ritual movies, the case will disappear. Therefore we have to look inward, let’s start from the home, what are we giving the next generation.

“We also have to start a reorientation because social media popularises rituals. So, we have to be conscious of using social media, which is good. Then we discard rubbish.”

Although some will pitch that ritual murders have been in existence for long and nothing can be done about it but this is a flawed argument. Could it be that the African culture’s accommodation of the constant need to spill blood as a form of ablution is the reason for these killings? Should the society then condone or subscribe to sheer barbarism to make money?

From Tunde Kelani’s clarifications, it then may not be fair to allege that the media created an imaginative correlation of spirits bringing money to people after ritual killings? Could this have been used to bolster the claim that ritual killings lead to money? Could the media have increased the problem? Or was it because they wanted to sell sensation to people and make money?

Although Kelani conceded that both Nollywood and the media should take part of the blame, he nevertheless correctly identified the audience as equally culpable because the two industries respond to the audience’s demands as they keep buying gory films of that type and give attention to such bloody content? This where regulatory agencies like the Censor’s Board and NBC can step in and wield the big stick.

But then looking at the big picture, human sacrifice has been a part of the human consciousness from the old times. In primitive societies the sacrifice of a human being was considered the highest form of sacrifice. Even in Europe this was practiced in the early centuries according to James George Frazer in The Golden Bough where he made reference to a certain king of Sweden who sacrificed nine of his ten sons to gain longevity!

Whereas societies in the advanced world have moved on, some African countries and Nigerians are still stuck in time. There is the superstitious and fetish belief that the life of a child or a mother or a stranger can generate wealth. Perhaps it is possible, as the notorious ‘yahoo yahoo’ boys believe.

But this is sheer gibberish and fundamentally unscientific, barbaric and extremely backward in the 21st Century. Some have been reported to use their close relations for ritual. It has also been reported that some politicians also indulge in this inhumane act as a way of winning elections, maintaining power and getting ahead in life!

How many ritual killings did the Elon Musks, Bill Gates, the Mark Zuckerbergs, Warren Buffets, the Mo Ibrahims, the Dangotes and many other billionaires do to make their money? What ritual killing did the software developers in India or Silicon Valley perform to achieve such phenomenal success?

Again, it bears repeating that the barbaric impunity of ritual killings will persist except the society swiftly and sternly punishes all proven cases of this type of criminality.